Greens commit to all obesity recommendations

The Green Party congratulates the
New Zealand Medical Association for its ground-breaking
report on battling obesity, and commits to implementing all
its recommendations when in Government.

The Green Party
strongly applauds the leadership of the New Zealand medical
profession in the battle against obesity-related disease,
marked by the release of the NZ Medical Association's
landmark report on the subject today.

“The Medical
Association’s recommendations must be implemented if New
Zealand is going to treat obesity with the seriousness it
deserves,” Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague
said today.

“The Medical Association’s report shows
that National’s individual choice approach is not based on
science and is simply not working.

“Two thirds of New
Zealanders are now obese or overweight and this is a life
and death issue that is overwhelming our hospitals. The
Government must accept that doctors are the experts and take
their advice on tackling obesity.

“The report's
recommendations are highly congruent with Green Party policy
and we will implement them urgently if we’re elected to
Government later this year.

“Controls on price,
availability and marketing have worked to reduce smoking so
why wouldn’t we use everything we’ve got?

“The
report also makes clear that factors outside the health
sector, such as urban design and transport, also have a
crucial role to play, and the Green Party advocates for
healthy cities for healthy lives.

“The Medical
Association’s report should be a wake-up call for the
Government that its head in the sand approach to obesity is
not working and it is time for real action on the obesity
epidemic,” Mr Hague
said.

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